Folding box construction



Nov. 30, 1943. s. M. LlBlT FOLDING BOX CONSTRUCTION Filed June l8, 1945J/zwzgM. Limb IN V EN TOR.

Patented Nov. 30, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING BOXCONSTRUCTION Sidney M. Liblt, Chicago, n1.

Application June 18, 1943, Serial No. 491,275

Claims.

This invention relates to folding box construction and has as itsprincipal object the provision of an improved box construction which issimple, economical in assembly and highly efllcient in use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a folding boxconstruction in one piece of fibrous board which when collapsed willassume a fiat compact condition and which upon a, single hand pullingoperation will unfold into a completed box ready for the reception of anarticle to be carried thereby.

A further object of this invention is to provide a one piece folding boxrequiring but a single joint of simple construction and requiring littleadded material thereby reducing the cost of the box construction both asto manufacturing operations and material.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a box with anintegral handle portion formed of the material of which the box is madeat the time the blank is cut by die operations.

Other objects will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of partsto be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawing showing my preferred form of construction, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the blank forming my new and improvedbox construction in partially assembled condition Fig. 2 is a singleline diagrammatical section illustrating the relationship of certainparts of the box when viewed along line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my improved box construction in foldedor total collapsed'condition;

Fig. 4 is a single line diagrammatical section illustrating therelationship of the parts of the box as seen along line 4-4 in Fig. 3and illustrating the distending operation of the box structure;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the box structure distended and ready toreceive an article to be carried; and

Fig. 6 is 'aperspective view, at slightly reduced scale, of my improvedbox construction locked in distended condition ready to be carried bythe handle.

As shown in the drawing the box structure is constructed of a singlepiece of fibrous material such as cardboard III which is stamped or cutby die operation into the desired shape of blank ll whereby to form abottom section l2; four side sections l3, l4, l5 and I6, each of whichis trapezoidal in form, having their lower parallel sides integrallyformed with the respective side of the bottom section [2 and definedtherefrom by a crease line which are generally indicated as I1; a crownsection I8 consisting of an extension I9 of the upper end of the side l3which is joined as at 20 to a fold section 2| extending from the upperend of the side l5; a pair of wing sections 22 extending from thenon-parallel sides of the trapezoidal side It, and a similar pair ofwing sections 23 extending from the non-parallel sides of thetrapezoidal side 16; and a head section 24 extending from the upperparallel side of the side wall l6.

In addition to the general formation of the blank II as above explainedthe head section 24 is cut out as at 25 to form U-shaped sections 26adapted to be folded up for abutting relation with respect to each otherto provide a handle 21 for the box. The head section being formed on theside wall It is arranged to overlie the crown section I8 thus closingthe normal opening between the crown section and the upper edge of theside wall It. The free end of the head section has a flap section 29formed integrally therewith and defined therefrom by crease line I1 andis so constructed as to overlie the normal opening between the crownsection l8 and the upper edge of the side wall It there being asupporting lip 28 formed on the wall M to brace up the adjoining edge ofthe crown section 18;

the flap 29 having a latch tab 30 of any wellknown form adapted tointerlock with keeper slots 3i formed in the side wall M at the point ofdisposition of the latch tab 30 as shown in Fig. 6.

Having thus described the general form of my improved box construction Iwill now proceed to explain the novel arrangement thereof and method offolding the various sections thereof whereby to produce a folding boxwhich is easily distended by a single operation.

As hereinbefore stated the crown section I 8 is composed of the twoextensions l9 and 2! which are joined as at 20. I prefer to accomplishthis joint by stitching 32 although other forms of interlocking meansmay be employed to attain the same result. However, by reason of theparticular formation of the crown section IS, the overlapping elementsl9 and 2| may be sewed on a conventional sewing machine by reason of thetrapazoidal cross section of the box formed. By this arrangement thereis no need of employing metal in the assembly of the box as is the usualpractice.

Referring now to Fig. 1 it will be noted that the crown section has anintermediate crease line H formed thereacross whereby to permit thehomogeneoustop and side walls I3 and I to be folded down flatly upon thebottom section I2. (See also Fig. 2). The novel folding of the sidesections is as follows: Reference being had to the diagram of Fig. 4.The side wall I6 has its wing portions 23 folded back upon the innerface of the section I6 and the latter folded down upon the bottomsection I2. The head section 24, it will be noted, is folded back uponthe outside fac of the side wall It in such a manner as to expose thetab portion 30 thereof for reasons to be hereinafter explained. Thewings 22 of the side wall I4 are folded inward to lie against the innerface of the section I4 and the latter folded flatly down upon the upperregion of the side wall IS. The aforementioned side walls I3 and I5 arethen folded in the manner hereinbefore explained with the side wall I3overlying the section it and I6 and the crown section I8 folded upon theouter face of the wall l3, the side wall I5 being fiat upon the foldedsections I3, I4 and It as shown in Fig. 3.

With the box collapsed in the condition just explained there results aflat unit all confined within the area of the bottom section l2 whichunit can be stored away in a minimum amount of room with like unitsuntil a box is needed.

When a box is required the flat unit is taken from storage and the tab30 grasped with one hand while the free hand steadies the unit. The tab30 is then raised to swing the side wall I6 counterclockwise as seen inFigs. 3 and 4. As a result of this movement of the side wall IS the wallI4 will likewise be raised (clockwise) and with it the two side walls I3and I5 will be distended until the box assumed the condition shown inFig. 5. The resiliency of the fibrous material I0 is such that when thetwo side walls I4 and I6 are in distended condition as in Fig. 5, thewings 22 and 23 flare out until they engage the inner faces of theirrespective adjacent side walls I3 and I5. The side wall I4 then forms aclosure element for the box and may be swung out and away from the boxproper to permit v entrance of an article to be carried thereby.

In closing the box the side wall I4 is swung back toward the box portionand the supporting lip 28 bent inward and under the crown section I8 tobear upward against the latter and maintaln the crown section inhorizontal alignment with the upper margin of the side wall I6. The headsection 24 is then swung to overlie the crown section I8 and the latchtab 30 interlocked with the slots 3| to lock the box in distendedcondition. The two U-shaped sections 28 are then bent upwardly to abutone another and form the handle 21. The box thus formed presents atruncated pyramid as shown in Fig. 6 which is sturdy one wall portionthereof to produce an article receiving box ready for use without anyfurther assembly operations.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable ofvariation and modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchvariations and modifications as come within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters. Patent is:

1. A folding box construction comprising a bottom section having sidesections formed integrally therewith, one pair of opposite side sectionshaving extended portions at their upper ends, means for joining saidextended portion to form a crown section, the other pair of oppositeside sections having wing portions normally flaring in the direction ofthe contiguous one pair of side sections, a head section formedintegrally on the upper end of one of said other side sections andadapted to overlie said crown section, a latching tab formed at the freeend of said head section, and keeper means adjacent the upper end of theopposite one of said other side sections and adapted to receive saidlatching tab to maintain said box construction in distended condition.

2. A folding box construction comprising a bottom section having sidesections .formed integrally therewith, one pair of opposite sidesections having extended portions at their upper ends, means for joiningsaid extended portions to form a crown section, the other pair of opposite side sections having wing portions normally flaring in thedirection of the contiguous one pair of side sections, a head sectionformed integrally on the upper end of one of said other side sectionsand adapted to overlie said crown section, a latching tab formed at thefree end of said head section, keeper means adjacent the upper end ofthe opposite one of said other side sections and adapted to receive saidlatching tab to maintain said box construction in distended condition,U-shaped sections formed in said head section and adapted to be bentoutwardly of the latter to provide a handle for said box construction.

3. A folding box comprising a unitary blank having a bottom section andtwo pairs of oppositely disposed side sections extending therefrom, acrown section joining the upper edges of one pair of said oppositelydisposed side sections, said other pair of side sections having wingportion along the side edges thereof and normally urged toward the innerface of said one pair of side sections, a head section formed on one ofsaid other pair of side sections and adapted to overlie said crownsection, a tab formed on the free end of said head section and adaptedto extend over the meeting edges of said crown section and the other oneof said other pair of side sections, and means for latching said tabwith said last named side section.

4. A folding box of the type having a quadrilateral bottom wall withside sections extending therefrom adapted to be distended from acollapsed condition by a single operation, a head section extending fromone of said side sections and normally bent back upon the outer surfaceof the latter, said one of said side sections normally lying upon saidbottom wall, a second side section opposite said one oi. said sidesections normally lying upon said last named side section, the otherside sections having extensions at the upper ends thereof and joined toform a crown section, said other side sections being folded one upon theother with the crown section therebetween whereby to automatically raisesaid other side sections and said second side section when an outsideforce is applied to said headsection to raise the latter into distendedposition.

5. In a folding box arrangement adapted to be raised from collapsed todistended condition by a single manual operation, the combination of aquadrilateral base section having' side sections extended therefrom, oneof said side sections having a head section extending from its upperedge and normally disposed to overlie said one of said side sectionswhen the latter is folded down upon said base section, a second sidesection opposite-said first named side section normally overlying thelatter, a crown section joining the remaining pair of opposite sidesections at the upper edges thereof one of which remaining side sectionsoverlies said second side section, said crown section having anintermediate crease line formed therein parallel with respect to theupper edges of the said remaining side sections and permitting the otherone'of said remaining side sections to lie flatly upon the superimposedsections whereby to raise said superimposed sections when a liftingforce is applied to said head section.

SIDNEY M. LlZBIT.

